Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to touch screen based systems, and more specifically to facilitating touch screen users to select elements identified in a two dimensional space.
Related Art
A touch screen refers to a display screen, which responds to touch based operations (e.g., touch/tap, drag, swipe, pinch) of users using one or more fingers, stylus, etc., and facilitates user interfaces with applications based on the operations.
The displays on touch screens often contain various elements. An element refers to a distinct entity (e.g., an icon, hyperlink, graphics element, etc.) that is usually visually demarcated by appropriate visual attribute (e.g., color, texture, border lines) on the display.
Displays are often populated with elements identified in a two dimensional space. A two dimensional matrix, with each entry at the intersection of a row and a column, being one of the elements, is an example of such elements. However, elements can be identified in two dimensional space, without such clear correlation in display. An example of such a display is a stacked bar graph, in which the same measures (e.g., profits from 3 different segments in one dimension) are displayed for multiple time points (e.g., annually for several years).
Users often wish to select one of the elements identified in a two dimensional space. In one approach, a user is expected to touch/tap an area, and a central point (touch or tap point) of the touch is determined. If the touch point does not fall on one of the elements, no element is selected and thus user may be required to touch different areas to cause selection of the desired displayed element. Often the zoom function is used in combination, to simplify the selection.
It is generally desirable that the selection of a desired element be simplified for users of touch screens.
In the drawings, like reference numbers generally indicate identical, functionally similar, and/or structurally similar elements. The drawing in which an element first appears is indicated by the leftmost digit(s) in the corresponding reference number.